Tomorrow I start a new job. My second job in the pandemic age, but it’s going to be from different from day one. My manager asked me if I’d like to come in on my first day to start onboarding, and meet the team as they might be coming in to the office as well. Normally this would be an automatic yes as I really do prefer the office setting, especially for first introductions. But this means I need to travel into Boston, and today the CDC revised guidelines urging even vaccinated people to wear masks indoors. So I’m excited to meet my new teammates (apparently it could the first return for several of them as well), and even go through the motions of a commute again. The position is officially remote, so I don’t expect to be doing this every day – once a week would be more than enough to start. We’ve gone this far without any official infection (we do suspect that recent colds may have been of the covid variety), and I hope that embarking on this trip does not endanger that.
But more importantly is the anticipation and excitement I have for this job. Everything from the initial interview to the offer letter has been better than I expected, and it’s setting me up for a very positive experience. Job hunting can be exciting at first, but it quickly turns into unpleasantness. It’s good when it can end with a good feeling.